Friday, January 31, 2014

I don't typically fall head over heels for a contemporary YA but I'm learning that Rainbow Rowell is apparently the exceptional writer that gets me every time. And that's an awesome feeling! I love having that kind of magical chemistry with an author/book:D

Cath and her twin sister have grown up loving and writing fanfic about Simon Snow, a beloved character from a beloved and insanely popular childhood book series. This series is basically a nod to Harry Potter of course. But as Cath and her sister Wren embark on college things change. Wren doesn't want to room together, take classes together, even cowrite their fanfic anymore! This combined with Cath's anxiety and introverted nature are just about more than she can bear.

But as she struggles to survive freshman year at college without the security of Wren constantly by her side, Cath experiences the beauty and pain of growing into herself. And Rainbow does it in such a beautiful way that I can't even....
Seriously, just read her books y'all! You won't be disappointed:)

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

I can not even begin to explain how much I loved this one. I mean, I've loved the series from the beginning but Secret has me even more excited and happy than I know how to express.

First, it's Nick's book which is great because I love the twins. I thought Gabriel's book was going to be my fave but Nick and his unassuming good nature have swayed me lol!

Second, I've read gay characters in YA before but I've always felt they were either done too "safe" or too stereotypical instead of real. I wasn't sure how it was gonna go with this series but based on the stellar writing and dialogues of characters so far I knew it would at least be ok. Well, it turns out it's even better than good!

And last but not least, I enjoyed seeing the friendship between Nick and Quinn. I was surprised to see my opinion of her change once I got to see the real her, and once I got to understand where she's coming from.

Overall I appreciated the realistic nature of the characters' reactions, including Nick's. It's refreshing to finally see an LGBTQ character in a YA book that is written as evenly and thoughtful as the straight characters. After all, it is a paranormal YA book too, so Nick's issues weren't solely focused on his sexuality. Like most people in the real world that was just one facet of who he is.

The final book in the Under the Never Sky series released yesterday!
Loved this series from the start, and I love the characters and the strange world they live in. It's all so bewildering at first, with aether and Scires, Auds, and Seers.
I love a good romance, and Perry and Aria make a good love story. I couldn't get enough of Perry. He's such an interesting and lovely book boyfriend.
Plus there were sweet little surprises in this final book that made all the violence and tragedy the characters endured seem worth it. I especially enjoyed Aria's friendship with Roar too. It seemed so fitting that they'd both be Auds and have a bond like brother and sister, these two Auds who love Perry.
Can't wait to share this series with all the people I know that love series but won't read them till they're all published lol. Also saw that it's been optioned for film; really hope it gets done, and done well. It's a perfect story for film adaptation with all its adventure and scifi type elements.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

There's just something about Nalini Singh's romances that gets to my heart. I love her affectionate heroes in her Psy/Changling series but it's her Guild Hunters and Angels that fascinate me most. I love the dark themes and her crazy angels that are not human, and questionable at best in their connection to "heaven". It's a favorite series for me, and I loved reading the story through Elena and Raphael's perspective in the first two books. I hadn't expected there to be main character changes after that. When it happened it didn't work for me as well, especially Jason's story which I found a tad boring.

So I was thrilled to be back with Elena and Raphael as chief characters in this one, and I loved how their relationship grew. Seeing Elena challenge Raphael and actually fight to get him to see her as a full equal in their relationship as well as in the angel world was interesting. I liked seeing how it was a real struggle for them as a couple. It's almost never shown in paranormal romances for the "true love" couple to struggle as they navigate their relationship. It made for nice subplot.

I also liked seeing the personality of Aodhan develop and learning of his connection to Illium, the blue winged angel that is hands-down my favorite:)Illium's story is still a ways off, I've heard, but I can't wait to read his book lol. And speaking of previous relationships, I loved the consistency between Elena and Dmitri, who don't exactly dislike each other but they ain't bosom buddies neither, hahahaha!! That shit cracked me up.

About Me

I'm just your average bookish girl that decided, on a whim, to try something new. I'm a common reader really, as Virginia Woolf might say; I spend my free time reading, in my "rooms, too humble to be called libraries, yet full of books, where the pursuit of reading is carried on".
I read and ❤ all kinds of books but I've got a real penchant for YA, Paranormal Fiction, and Romance.